need serious help on horse hoofs........

[FLchook]

Over the past 4 days our pasture has gone from sand to muck...and now the horse hoofs are looking really bad!! I have only had them since last summer, and last year was rather dry, nothing like it is this weeks. It seems the rains have come back with a vengance. We needed it for sure, but I didnt expect such serious deteriation of the hoofs!!

Ill try my best to describe whats going on. The heels, balb and frogs look like they are rotting. The coronet band looks white and is slimy feeling. The sole (white hard part around the frog) seems to be sheeting off. Its gray where the white has come off.

What should I do? Do we need to get the ferrier out? They are shoed on the front, but thats not seeming to help. Im going to stall them tonight, to try and give thier feet a chance to dry a bit. They will not be happy about it, but I think its best. They have not been forced into a stall for the 18 years the past owner had them. They just go in when they want.

Thanks,
Shannon

 

[s6bee]

It sounds as if it's sever thrush. They need to get dry and I'm sure they are feeling painful at this point.
Do a search on Equine thrush and see if any of the images are what you are describing.

 

[Malbri]

Definetly sounds like thrush. Does it smell?
Definetly keep them as dry as possible

 

[suenrob]

Thrush buster is the best for thrush. I would keep in a dry stall and use it at least twice a week.

 

[kbarrett]

I think it sounds like thrush also, the smell will be very distinct. I second suenrob on the Thrush Buster...best stuff out there. Don't use daily and like all those products for thrush keep it on the hoof, it can blister/ burn their skin.

 

[Florida chick]

Sounds like possible Thrush..Try Venice turpentine. I would call your farrier, if its really bad you will need the shoes pulled. Def get them on dry ground. It may not be thrush, it would smell horrible! I am in Jasper,FL. If your close, I wouldn't mind checking if you need help

goodluck

We are getting rain all week, BUT I am next to a river and the sand seems to dry up within an hr after a storm,so we aren't seeing any problems.

 

[jenjscott]

trim off any loose pieces of frog with a hoof knife, and scrape the sole. Then paint the whole bottom of the foot and the coronet with betadine solution. Keep them up in a dry stall as much as possible. It could be just the extreme wet, like prune toes when you get out of the bath! But the betadine with help dry, but will also help kill of any fungus (thrush). use betadine freely and frequently, it won't burn like iodine.

 

[lorieMN]

sounds like a natural sloughing of the hoof to me,4 days of mud shouldnt cause thrush that fast..sounds like the old hoof hasnt been coming off like it should,and once it got moist it started to shed itself..clean them up good with a brush and soapy water and look at the sole,if there are flaps on the bars there may be bacteria starting something under there,but if they arent really smelly I wouldnt worry about it..one of the problems with shoes on horses is they prevent the hoof from shedding itself naturally,and when it was dry you maybe didnt notice the shed that should have come off,once it got moist that gave it a chance to lossen all the old hoof and sole,I would say remove the flaps and loose stuff yourself but if you dont know what you are doing you can lame a horse pretty fast by going to deep..

 

[FLchook]

Thanks!! Ill leave them in the stall, and get some of that thrush buster. Ive got a bottle of betadine somewhere around here, ill try that too!

Im still so shocked that that much can happen in such a short time.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Malbri]

If it doesnt smell it may be just what lorie is saying, but smell is a large part of thrush. We paniced last year thinking that the horses had thrush really bad and our farrier told us that it was natural shedding, and thrush would have a really strong smell, not the a old manure smell that we were mistaking for the thrush smell